More people have quit this company than currently work for them. There are a lot of reasons for this, but it mostly stems from the four owners who are at times going in different directions with how they manage. They are manipulative and unappreciative. They will shower you with praise only when it benefits them. They will also take out their frustration on you. This is done in the form of the owners' private Slack channel (which they used to just leave open on their screens before the owners moved to a private office... I mean you'd plainly see what they would call other employees purely by accident!), through passive aggressive emails during your time off trying to make you feel bad for not working, or when speaking to other employees. Yes, they will ridicule you to your colleagues behind your back. Get ready to relive those middle school Mean Girls years! The number of times I've seen my colleagues, my really good friends break down crying in the office at the end of the day was just too much. That is a direct indication of an improper work/life balance. Should you bring your frustrations up to them however, they will try and spin it on you as being a "squeaky wheel" rebel who needs to pipe down and shut up. Once you have been relegated to "bad seed" status, your life becomes hell at Local Foreigner. They will watch you from the other room like Big Brother. The ultimate goal for the owners - which they speak about aloud - is to push all the work off of their plates onto their minimum wage employees so they can go wine and dine rich socialites and show off their sweatsho... I mean business. Needless to say, the culture there is poisonous.
But wait, there's more! The absolute negativity that has taken hold in that office reverberates out as well. I guess part of their employee retention strategy is to instill Stockholm Syndrome into their staff as you will consistently hear them talk about how great their company is and how they are "the best in the biz", meanwhile you look around at your colleagues choking back tears and at your abysmal bank account level thinking to yourself, "well that just can't be true...". You will hear them eviscerate other travel companies because apparently putting them down makes you love Local Foreigner more? Also, every phone call with a client who "wrongs" them ends with an expletive filled tirade. It's all an incredibly petty way of propping oneself up.
The absolute BEST and most hilarious aspect of Local Foreigner is how they "send off" employees who have quit. I've noticed three different tiers an employee can achieve. The top tier is a champagne toast where they awkwardly go around and say good things about you, ignoring the fact that they have derided you behind your back to other employees. The next tier is where you quit unceremoniously and you leave, never to hear from them again. THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT. The lowest tier is you quit, they complain to you that you are being unprofessional and not going out on their terms (read: you are leaving them with work to do) and they vow to try and ruin your life even after you've left. You will be subjected to frivolous lawsuit threats and harassment up until a global pandemic pops up and cripples the travel industry worldwide.
There are just so many other travel companies in New York City to work for that don't do all the above. So unless you are into watching the out-of-touch owners "broth" and literally spend thousands of dollars on stupid fad diets while you beg for minimal raises because you work around the clock for them including week nights, weekends, and when you're trying to spend quality time with your family, just go find another company to work for. Seriously, you're welcome.
